The second weekend of the Italian Baseball League’s round robin semifinals will be getting underway tonight in Rimini and Bologna with the Rimini Pirates welcoming in Tommasin Padova in this weeks RaiSport2 TV game, while UnipolSai Bologna will be opening their doors to T&A San Marino. On Friday evening these two series will shift to Padova and San Marino, while the conclusion of these two three game sets will be played out back in Rimini and Bologna on Saturday evening… all games are scheduled for 9:00 pm local time.
Beginning with Orlando Munoz’s Rimini… losers of 2 of 3 last weekend against San Marino, with both losses being suffered at just a single run difference on Thursday and Saturday evenings. As for Orlando’s lineup, look for Peppe Mazzanti to get the start at 1st with Spinelli being reduced to limited action due to back problems, while at the 3rd base bag look for Di Fabio’s name to be penciled in. As for the three starters, it will most likely be Candelario on Thursday, while games two and three are still up in the air in regards to rotation between Parise and Richetti.
Rimini’s opponent, Tommasin Padova comes into this three game set looking to bounce back after the dropped 3 of 3 last weekend to UnipolSai Bologna in a home-away-home three game set. Khelyn Smith will most likely be going with Quevedo on Thursday, but looks to be holding off on announcing his game two and three starters. The two names that look to get the ball will be the newly acquired Yorfrank Lopez and Enrico Crepaldi.
On Thursday evening UnipolSai Bologna will be looking to extend their impressive 18 game winning streak when they take on T&A San Marino on their home diamond. Bologna as a whole looked strong in their first three games over Padova in week one of the semifinals, with the one exception of their new foreign pitcher, Cova. The hard throwing righty didn't fair two well in his short 1.1 innings of work, however with that said look for this professional to bounce back strong against San Marino whenever his names called upon this weekend. Going for Nanni’s Bologna tonight in Bologna will be Fleming, while in games two and three the it will either be Rivero or Riccardo De Santis.
Bologna’s opponent, T&A San Marino comes into this three game set flying high after they were able to take home 2 of 3 over the Rimini Pirates in week one, with game three being the most impressive of them all as they used three long balls (2 Duran, 1 Imperali) in their comeback 7-6 victory on Saturday evening. In tonight’s game look for the southpaw Rodney Rodriguez to get the call in hopes of building upon his strong outing just a week ago, while in games two and three it will be the newly acquired Berg and Pizziconi.
